Legend Quest

I honestly thought this show had promise at first, but as I watched episode after episode, I realized it wasn't going anywhere. The main dude (I honestly didn't even bother to remember his name because I found him THAT non-interesting) puts clues randomly together. Give him a stick and he'll say to go left, right, into the temple, under the water, travel to 3 different countries, and there you go. He has his "idea" of where the legendary artifact may be. But he cannot make sure because of some stupid reason. It's either protected, not enough information, too dangerous, or something else.

I have also done research on some of what he claimed was "history". Most of it is meaningless babble.

Common! This nothing has with archeology, it's fake by fake. How you can trust anybody, who breaks in any place, trying to find "clue", oh yes, and suddenly he sees wings of angels or cross or labyrinth or stone in bull-corner or anything like this and knows where to go then? "See, it looks like skull - definitely skull of Mayan children or priests who hidden talking cross!" - "Oh, amazing! It's too small for coffin it must be arch of covenant!" - "Superb, thus sculpture looks like little box, it is clue pointing to this door!" Really funny. And what is surprising - they found nothing! Arch of covenant is hidden beyond wooden wall, so we leave it. Mayan talking cross is definitely hidden beyond stone block under water. Etc. And what this really annoying editing? I know spectators could have lower IQ but not all are stupid.

I have only been able to catch 2 episodes of Legend Quest. It is a well choreographed and edited show and makes a good travelogue with gorgeous scenery and a good history lecture of ancient legends. But I have a problem with the conclusions at the end.

I was really upset when the host theorized that the spearhead that pierced Christ was secreted in Area 51. Though not admitted publicly, the spearhead recovered by General Patton was stored in the Fort Knox Gold Repository. The crown of King Stephan of Hungary was stored there as well but was better publicized, especially when President Carter decided to give it back to Hungary while the country was still under communist rule (which upset my Hungarian born wife to no end as she was afraid the communists would destroy it). It is logical to assume that many historical artifacts are stored at Fort Knox other than just tons of gold bullion. But don't try to sneak in there to look for it. You won't make more than 10 yards inside the fence before becoming history yourself.

Another episode was on the Stone of Divinity (or something like that). The search and scenery were well presented but heavily edited. The scene of finding what appears to be the stone was strictly dramatics. The flooring with the trap door is less than 20 years old (no mildew or dry rot on the beams) so the caretakers of the Castle on Iona have known a black monolith of some sort has been down there a long time.

Perhaps the best looking part of the show is Kinga Phillips. Though her biography shows her as being born in Poland, the name Kinga is Hungarian. That's the same name as my wife's Hungarian sister, and one of our nieces by her brother. She is a professional actress and not an archaeologist but works well with the host as well as being eye appealing.

So, if the endings and findings were done more realistically (such as the Iona custodian telling them there's a big black rock in that small room under a trap door), I wouldn't groan so much.

And as for Groom Lake Air Force Base (science-fictionally called Area 51), give me a break. You can see every building on Google Earth and read the runway markings. At best I think it's a decoy to keep UFO hunters busy and security personnel and procedures trained and practiced for real secret bases.

Yet I still like the show but mostly for entertainment rather than historical accuracy.

I was so hopeful that SyFy had something with this series...but I was wrong. I am a real life archaeologist and the amount of work we have to do to even get a small idea of what we are trying to find is enormous. This crackpot makes wild guesses and gives us all a bad name. My way of explaining his research and outrages assumptions is: if there is fish on the menu of the restaurant in which he is eating...then Jesus must have been born in the basement. Not only does he make wild assumptions, and act like it is his superior intellect that leads him to these conclusions but he searches for things we are not even sure really exist. Or even better yet he whole heartedly assumes they have supernatural powers. The only redeeming thing about this show is that it takes us to really cool archaeological sites, otherwise, it isn't worth the time. It is an embarrassment to the field of archaeology. I could say more but the other reviewers are doing an excellent job letting you know this show is terrible.

WTH was SyFy thinking when the green-lighted this show? The greatest salesperson in the world is whoever convinced the suits that this was a good idea.

The premise itself is interesting and had potential: someone scouring the world to find long-lost items of great interest and historical significance. The problem, as other reviewers have already pointed out, is that said protagonist is hunting for things that probably NEVER existed! Excalibur? Come on; it's a legend, a fairy tale. Someone resembling Arthur may have lived (doubtful, though), but there was no Camelot, no Merlin, and definitely no Excalibur. And has he every actually found any of these legendary items he's sought? You get one guess.

I could go on, but you get the point.